Obligatory Post for Not Posting Enough – Children Save Dublin and other things

I know I haven’t posted in weeks and for that I apologise. But I honestly have been so busy since Children Save Dublin started in January that this is the first time I’ve had to write a new blog.

So as a lot of you will know by now, my book ‘Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent’ was chosen as the featured book in the first ever ‘Children Save Dublin’ reading campaign from Unesco. From January to March children in city were encouraged to read the book and engage with it through web games, discussion, acting, art and meeting me. There were so many highlights that I really wouldn’t be able to write them all down here!

I visited 25 schools, libraries and bookshops in Dublin and a further 10 around the country – nearly all in four weeks! I met hundreds of young readers, dozens of teachers, librarians, booksellers and parents. In that time, I answered countless questions, read from the book so much that I know certain passages by heart and signed a cramp-inducing number of books. I even got the pleasure of watching a play based on the first five chapters of the book! Read the rest of this entry »

Me, My Kindle and I

Back in November, I got myself a Kindle. I had been refraining for a while; pure and simply, I prefer ‘real books’. But a couple of things convinced me to part with my money. Firstly, I wanted to have unpublished short stories and future books available to me for readings without the need of bringing print-offs. Secondly, I wanted to read Stephen King’s new novel. Read the rest of this entry »

Sendak on The Colbert Report

Maurice Sendak (the curmudgeonly creator of, among other things, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’) was recently interviewed on The Colbert Report. (For anyone who hasn’t heard of the show, it’s essentially a parody of right-wing political broadcasting; Fox News etc.)

Anyway, the interview was spread across two episodes (season 9 episodes 13/14) and were a real treat. Sendak was a real match for the witty Colbert and was perftly able to give as good as he got. At one stage, Colbert quipped that  he believed that kids “are just biding their time until we’re gone and then they get our stuff.”

Sendak quickly replied, “It’s an interesting point of view. Not interesting to me, particularly …” Read the rest of this entry »

Children Save Dublin

As I mentioned briefly in this earlier blog, my book has been chosen to be the featured book in the inaugural ‘Children Save Dublin’ reading project. The initiative has been established by UNESCO Dublin City of Literature – (the people behind the hugely successful ‘One City, One Book’ project) – and will run from today right up to the end of March. There are lots of events planned for the duration of the festival. I’ll be giving workshops in libraries, schools and bookshops and Michael Moylan of Irish History Live will be bringing his Viking History show to various locations around the city. The project culminates with a huge event as part of the St Patricks Festival. We’re going to have a train parked in Connolly Station, designed to look like the World Serpent itself. Each carriage will host a different fun event – (I’ll be there giving workshops and more!)

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Children Save Dublin – Photo Call

This morning I could be seen at Stephens Green for a photo call. Why, you ask. Well it for the launch of the UNESCO Dublin City Of Literature reading project “Children Save Dublin”, that is encouraging children between the ages of 8 and 13 to read my book. There will be some big events throughout and I will blog about it properly later but for now, here are a couple of images of a Viking with Arthur and Ash!

You can hear a report on Morning Ireland here

(A big thank you goes out to everyone who helped out today, especially all at Viking Splash Tour and Charlie & Zoe who made an excellent Arthur & Ash!)

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‘Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing’ by Judy Blume

A while ago, I was asked to write a short piece for The Irish Times on one of my favourite childhood books. This is what I wrote…

 

Although written in the early seventies, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume still
resonates today. We meet nine year old Peter Hatcher who tells us exactly how his toddler brother
Farley has ruined both his and his parents’ lives. Farley, who prefers to be known as Fudge, is two
and a half when the book begins. He’s hyperactive, rambunctious and always gets his way. If things
don’t go how Fudge likes, he throws himself onto the floor, screaming, kicking and banging his fists.
As Peter recounts the many crimes of his brother, we also meet Jimmy – Peter’s best friend – and
Sheila – their infuriating, know-it-all classmate who just happens to live in the same building as the
Hatcher’s.

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2011; What it meant to me

The past 365 days have been a particularly great year for me.

There are all the obvious things that most of you already know. I’ve had my first book published to critical and public acclaim. It was even shortlisted in the BGE Irish Book Awards – (that was a shocker!) Because of the book, I’ve had the chance to meet a lot of new and fascinating people, including several fellow writers who have had nice and encouraging things to say. But the real joy has come from my many visits to schools and libraries. Meeting the children to have read or are reading my book is a pleasure incomparable to anything else. The enthusiasm kids today have for books is infectious and makes me want to go home and read/write even more.

I’ve spent a lot of the time in the past year learning how to be a writer. When I wrote the book in 2010, I kind of just stumbled into everything, feeling my way blindly. But at the start of 2011, I set myself some writing targets and got into a habit that I keep to today. Right now, I have the first drafts of the next two Arthur Quinn books complete and am working on a whole other story that I hope people will get to read one day.

My friends and family have been so supportive to me all year long that I can’t thank them enough. The same must be said for my publishers, Mercier Press, fellow authors and all the kids book enthusiasts I’ve met along the way.

But what else did 2011 mean to me? Well I thought I’d have a look back at some of my highlights. What were yours?

 

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